Index Index for
Section 8
Index Alphabetical
listing for D
Index Bottom of
page

drd_balance(8)

NAME

drd_balance - Distributed raw disk (DRD) load balancing utility (provided on Production Server configurations only)

SYNOPSIS

/usr/sbin/drd_balance [flags]

FLAGS

-d Displays additional debugging information. -D Displays full debugging information. -h Displays help message. -i num Sets the polling interval to the specified number of seconds. To avoid excessive service relocations, do not set the polling interval to less than a few minutes. In addition to degrading system performance, short polling intervals do not provide enough time for the drd_balance utility to determine accurate usage patterns. -p num Specifies the threshold at which the drd_balance utility begins to suggest the relocation of the DRD services. The num parameter represents the percentage of all DRD I/O operations performed by the local node that are remote DRD I/O operations. The value of num should be in the range of 50 to 100. Use the -p flag when most remote DRD I/O operations are started within the available server environment (ASE) to which this member system belongs, or are started about equally between this ASE and a remote ASE. When the specified threshold is exceeded, the drd_balance utility considers all remote I/O requests initiated within the cluster when making relocation suggestions. -P num Specifies the threshold at which the drd_balance utility begins to suggest the relocation of DRD services. The num parameter represents the percentage of all DRD I/O operations performed by the local node that are remote DRD I/O operations. The value of num should be in the range of 1 to 100. Use the -P flag when a node outside of the ASE to which this member system belongs is starting most remote DRD I/O operations. When the specified threshold is exceeded, the drd_balance utility considers only remote I/O requests initiated within the current ASE when making relocation suggestions. -r Causes the drd_balance utility to attempt the service relocations it determines when the -p or -P flag is specified. If you do not specify the -r flag, the drd_balance utility displays the suggested relocations and does not attempt to perform them. -s num Adds the specified DRD service to the list of services the drd_balance utility is monitoring for potential relocations. The num parameter represents the numeric portion of the DRD service's name. To explicitly monitor more than one DRD service, use this option multiple times on the command line. By default, the drd_balance utility monitors all DRD services. You cannot use the -s and -S flags on the same command line. -S num Adds the specified DRD service to the list of services the drd_balance utility is not monitoring for potential relocations. The num parameter represents the numeric portion of the DRD service's name. You cannot use the -s and -S flags on the same command line. -t Disables the printing of a timestamp when the drd_balance utility performs each relocation.

DESCRIPTION

The drd_balance utility analyzes DRD I/O usage patterns in a Production Server configuration. It does so by gathering statistics that describe the number of DRD read and write requests that are started by the local node and by remote nodes. If the node running the utility is servicing more remote requests than local requests for a particular DRD service, the utility determines if another cluster member can more efficiently provide the service. The drd_balance utility polls the DRD subsystem at a tunable time interval for operation counts and a list of cluster members issuing remote DRD service requests. Because it analyzes DRD service usage statistics only for DRD services provided by the node it is running on, it can only relocate services from the current node to another node within the same ASE. To optimally balance DRD service placement, have a separate instance of the drd_balance utility active on each cluster member. The drd_balance utility can relocate a DRD service only to other nodes within the same ASE. It displays messages indicating when a majority of remote requests for a local DRD service are being initiated by a cluster member in another ASE. Although the utility cannot perform the relocation in this situation, the messages are an indication that DRD performance could benefit from a disk configuration change. Note Because DRD I/O usage patterns vary over time, the suggested service relocation is not guaranteed to improve performance. If the DRD service consists of more than one DRD device or a DRD device that is a Logical Storage Manager (LSM) volume, the drd_balance utility does not attempt to relocate the service.

EXAMPLES

The following command enables relocations of all DRD services: % drd_balance -r The following command enables relocations and sets the polling interval to five minutes (300 seconds): % drd_balance -r -i 300 The following command enables relocations for the DRD services drd1, drd2, drd8, and drd11: % drd_balance -r -s 1 -s 2 -s 8 -s 11 The following command enables relocations for all DRD services except drd1 and drd11: % drd_balance -r -S 1 -S 11

RELATED INFORMATION

drd(7), asemgr(8)

Index Index for
Section 8
Index Alphabetical
listing for D
Index Top of
page